It's OFFICIAL!

I am a timely, mostly prompt person. I am held accountable to the second with my occupation. When Tad and I went to The Fulton County Probate Court to apply for our Marriage License, we were told by the lovely lady that we would have the official certificate within 4 weeks of our wedding.

I don't like being lied to. SO, after the 28th day with no official certificate in the mail, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Part of the reason I had taken so much time off from work in November was to tie up loose ends after the wedding. I would be in charge of most of the combining of the two homes, returning duplicate wedding gifts and of course, changing my name. 4 weeks. I can't accomplish the last task without the official wedding certificate. I begin by calling. After a bit of governmental run around, I get my grimy hands on the phone number to the probate clerk. She won't answer her phone. She doesn't return calls as promised on her voicemail. Her sheer will to ignore is impressive. She had no idea what was in store for her. I was on a mission. I had to get to the bottom of this as I couldn't bear to hear my hubby ask every day "Did anything from Fulton County come in the mail" with anticipation and disappointment growing each day.

On day 31, I hopped in the car and decided to get to the bottom of things at The Fulton County Probate Court. This is what I encountered:






The woman behind the desk was clearly not impressed with my mission. She spoke in a tongue that only an ewok could understand. She was so large that moving from the desk would be an undertaking in itself. She truly didn't give a darn that it had been 31 days and we still didn't have our official certificate. She suggested that I "call back". I asked if 404.730.4685 was the proper number to call. She looked mortified that I had it memorized. It was the correct number. I asked if Bonnie had an ability to call out i.e. return calls. She did. I was told they were "backed up". They would get to me when they got to me. Then she said it. "We didn't get no license in the mail." Oh, the dreaded double negative. Had I taken the time to explain grammatically what she had just said I knew we would never get our certificate. I went home and decided to wait it out.

I called our wedding coordinator from the church, who assured me that she mailed the signed certificate herself from the post office. She also assured me that Fulton County is notoriously slow and that she knew getting the certificate could take over 6 weeks. Ugh. The probate court lady told us no more than 4!

I am dropping it. Combining 2 homes isn't supposed to be this hard. It gets to be when Fulton County is sooooooo slow.

Then it happened. On the 42nd day, 6 weeks to the day after our wedding our Official Certificate arrived in the mail. We are officially recorded. Now I get to go speak with the lovely people at Social Security. I will have my ewok thesaurus in hand.

We'll Take That One!

Tad and I are both shoppers. We see what we like, we make a quick decision and we hope to not have regret when we get the item home. We decided that we would purchase our Christmas tree Thanksgiving weekend as my time at home the month of December will be somewhat limited. I found a coupon on-line and we set off to a local tree farm to find the perfect fir.





It only took about 5 minutes of looking at about 4 trees and we saw the one that was destined to come home with us. A beautiful 8.5' Fraiser Fir that had perfect symmetry and was grown in Northern California. That was all I needed to hear. Sold. Can we have 2?




After sweet talking the tree lot guy (me, not Tad) we convinced him to put it in the stand for us. I could only imagine what it would have been like trying to do that ourselves. Tad has a keen eye for all things perfect and can spot a fleck of dust a mile away. Not having a straight tree in our home between our pillars was simply not an option. I thank the tree lot man (Jimbo) for keeping my marriage in tact.

Off To The 'Noo 'Noo

Tad is originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee. That is about an hour and a half from Atlanta, so this year we decided to go there for the weekend to spend Thanksgiving with his mom, sister and her family. Whenever we talk about that city, a great debate inspires. I call it "The 'Noo 'Noo". Tad calls it "ChattaVegas". Whatever you call it, we climbed in the car Thanksgiving morning and headed northwest.

We had a great time and began our weekend with Thanksgiving dinner at a great place his mom found right on the river.

Content with full bellies after dinner.

After a great Thanksgiving meal, we headed back to Judy's home for some stomach recovery before concentrating on what we were going to eat next. After a little coercion, we got Brock (13) and Emma (10) to bust out their Baritone Saxophone and Clarinet for a private concert in the family room.

Easily mistaken as The VonTrapps, they are The Steeles!

The day after Thanksgiving, Judy had arranged a nature tour of the Tennessee River. It was a great tour and very exciting for us all to be on a boat that traveled at speeds of up to 50mph!!

With my friend Sam (5), trying to stay warm!

Sam got his hands on a pair of binoculars and was captivated.

Emma and I look a little different than we did the month before!

After our river tour, we grabbed Emma and took her for a much deserved treat. Clumpies Ice Cream! Clumpies is a Chattanooga creamery that no one in this family can pass up. We so enjoyed our afternoon with Ms. Bean and Tad and I can't wait for our next ice cream date with her!

Though the debate of what to call the city we were visiting continued, Tad bought me a t-shirt that said "Chattaboogie" across the front. It appears we were both wrong. No matter, a great time was had by all.

Happy Birthday To ME!

I LOVE birthdays! Everybody's birthday. I think that is the one day per year you should be entitled to do what you want, say what you want and eat what you want without penalty! This year's birthday allowed me to do all of that and more! Being that it was the day before Thanksgiving, I got to kick the holidays off with a bang!

Tad woke me up early in the morning and made me a delightful breakfast of gluten free chocolate chip pancakes and perfectly cooked crispy bacon! Yumm! He then bestowed me with incredible gifts. He is SO very thoughtful and pays attention when I am generally convinced of just the opposite.




My dear friend Laura took the day off from work and she and I had a wonderful girls day. We both had been dying to try the restaurant at Le Cordon Bleu's Culinary Academy in Atlanta so she made lunch reservations and made sure that my food limitations were accommodated. We had an incredible 5 course lunch (splurge!) and lots of laughs along the way.

Creme Brule for lunch!

After eating a million calories, we decided we should probably do something to burn off the calories - what a better place to do that?! The mall. I had a couple of coupons that were burning holes in my pocket so we went to the mall to indulge a little more. It is not often that I can introduce Laura to something, so I got tremendous joy of showing her the valet at Lenox Mall. Something she had never done but will probably never pass up again, especially when knowing that she will be hauling serious loot!

It's not often that Tad makes it home from work before I am done doing all things girly. This day was an exception and as soon as I walked in the door he was ushering me out to our awaiting dinner reservations. He surprised me by taking me to BLT Steak, which is in our neighborhood and we have been looking for a special occasion to try. We had an incredible meal for what shaped up to be THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!!!!

Because I Am "Handy".....

Many years ago, when I moved into my very first apartment, my parents bought me a VERY cool tool kit. I seriously questioned this purchase as I could barely change a light bulb let alone figure out what to do with a level. As time went by, I educated myself. I got to the point where not only could I hang pictures, I could install wall anchors, grout, put together furniture and not have too many left over parts, install dimmers and change fixtures. Then, I got married. I have always been proud of my self-sufficiency. My husband prefers to hire help for all things repair worthy.

Combining two homes has been a challenge. Making his bachelor haven a home for me as well as added its own set of issues. Tad no longer enjoyed using the master bathroom shower, as he was afraid of getting one of my razors in his toosh when he sat on the integrated shower bench that had become home to my toiletries. I loathed the very small, tarnishing shower caddy that hung from the shower head. Time to shop for a replacement. We found a very cool shelf system in the Sky Mall catalogue that might solve all of our issues. It involved a floor to ceiling pole that houses baskets and sits in the corner of the shower. It had plenty of space for my belongings and Tad would no longer be afraid of the Gillettes laying on the bench.

Our super cool shower system arrived it the mail and I was so very excited to put it together. After opening the box, it appeared to be very simple and straight forward to assemble. As Tad watched in pure astonishment, I got to work and had it installed in about 5 minutes. He was very kind in donating his time to handing me parts and steering clear of the area in general. We both got very excited when it was erect and holding all of our shower goodies. He took the first shower with the new gadgetry installed and warned me not to use anything with a pump because the pressure caused the pole to slide. I experienced the same thing. As we were both in the bathroom later getting ready for a big event, we heard a horrific crash. Our new shower system had given way and was no longer standing. As I looked at what had happened with complete horror I quickly realized that I installed the system upside-down. Oops. Maybe I should have looked at the instructions. I instead decided to cite my Polish lineage and we had the greatest laugh over the whole thing.

Maybe there is something to be said for hiring a professional.........

With This Ring, I Give You USAA......

When Tad asked me to marry him, I had one stipulation to my agreement. He had to dump State Farm, his insurance provider of 20 years and head for greener pastures at USAA. I am one of the few, I consider myself fortunate. I have what many are envious over. I have what I believe is the BEST insurance carrier in the world, USAA. I qualify for this insurance as my dad is a retired Army Officer. The rates are wonderful, the customer service is unprecedented and best of all, they give huge rebates on your premiums every December. Just in time for Christmas shopping.

We have been married almost a month. We are getting settled. We have been combining the contents of 2 homes. We have returned all duplicate and triplicate gifts. We are patiently waiting for our marriage license to arrive in the mail so that I can change my name and we can get everything else that needs combining combined.

Last night, I made the call to USAA to see if we had to wait for the licence to proceed. They told me that my word was all they needed. SCORE! Bye, bye State Farm! We began the process of making Tad a member of the USAA family. It took them 6 tries to get our proof of insurance cards correct. I am still not sure where the trip up was, but eventually they got it right and we went along our merry way. Then it happened, Tad called today to move over his home-owners and apparently it took 4 hours.

J: WHAT?! From the company that handed me a check Tuesday after being robbed Saturday?!


T: YES, correct. 4 hours. Oh, and the price doubled!


J: Say what?! Double! That's it, I'm calling.


T: Don't call - we will figure it out later......


When I called USAA, I got Michelle. I had no need to introduce myself, as she had all my personal information on the screen in front of her from my touch-tone information.


M: Good afternoon, Mrs. Hutcheson!

J: Actually, this is Ms. PETRICK. Let's talk about the 4 hour quote and doubling in price.....


And so it began. I think Kelly Martin has long disappeared and been replaced with Ms. PETRICK. She certainly isn't going to stand idly by and wait for any situation to solve itself. After a mere 14 minutes, the situation was taken care of. Welcome to USAA, Tad.

Honey, Is That The Moon?

While I was obsessing over - I mean planning for - our wedding, Tad's most important task was planning the honeymoon. I kept telling him I didn't care where we went. He and I vacation differently. This we both realize. He is content rolling out of bed late in the morning, finding a beach chair, cracking a book and smoking cigars. I like to get up early and explore. I am so afraid of missing something. SO, when he decided the location of our honeymoon, he clearly thought he had gotten one over me. I will never forget the conversation. It went something like this:

T: "I booked our honeymoon!"

J: "No way! Where are we going?!"

T: "Peter Island!"

J: "Who is Peter Island?"

T: "Not WHO, where. Peter Island. Virgin Islands."

J: "French, British or US?"

T: "British - kind of. The entire island is the resort. Owned by an American. Who lives in Georgia. It's near Tortola. We get to take a boat there!"

J: " Um, okay. Peter Island. Do you want the groomsmen to wear white, black or purple pocket squares?"

Silence.........

So, we left the day after our wedding. We were both exhausted but we made our flight, which was the most important part. Peter Island was AMAZING. Though Tad was convinced there was nothing to do on the island, once we arrived and I got to exploring, we quickly found that NOT to be the case. I did give him Monday to rest. After that, we had to see all that Peter Island had to offer.

We snorkeled, I learned to sail (Tad came along for boat rides where we hunted giant turtles), we rented a private beach dubbed HONEY MOON BEACH for a morning, we went on a tour of the island, had a day at the spa (the most beautiful place I have ever seen), indulged in a 5 course wine dinner, did a sunset tour with a bottle of champagne and the night before we left had a private dinner on the beach. We had an AMAZING vacation and that guy Peter sure knows how to treat his guests!

Looking down at the spa.

Looking down the beach from the place we generally plopped.

Pre-dinner glass of wine on the balcony.

On the island tour.

Tad finishing his 3rd book at Honeymoon Beach.

Captain Janin at the helm with Tad along for ballast.

Tad Hutcheson, Master Sommelier.

Sunset. Breath taking.

Wine dinner. Tad dared me to drink his 5 courses, too. It wasn't for lack of trying that I couldn't do it.

Our last dinner on the beach.

The Rip Heard 'Round The World

I had dreams about my wedding. I think every bride does. I imagined everything being perfectly in place. Perfect dress, perfect hair, perfect, perfect, PERFECT!! I hear that lots of things happen that aren't so perfect on your wedding day. I stayed up late most nights to ensure that this wouldn't happen to me.

The night before our wedding, I caught about 5 hours of shut-eye. I rarely remember the dreams that I have while sleeping, but those that night were vivid. 1) I stepped on the front of my dress and the whole thing ripped off. Awful. What was worse was realizing that I elected to ditch the girdle. Bad move. Wouldn't do that in reality. 2) I forgot how to do THE CHICKEN DANCE. EMERGENCY!!!!! Everyone who knows me knows that I won't go to a wedding if there is not a chicken dance. My dad and I had the ultimate surprise in store (he loves THE CHICKEN DANCE, too). We would dance about 1/2 of a nice song then have the DJ scratch into the chicken dance. Perfect. Not if you can't remember how to do it.

I made it down the aisle and through the entire ceremony without stepping on my dress. Tad managed to not step on it, either. My dad steered clear while he was escorting me. The bodice and train were crusted in real crystal. We made it through, unscathed. One dream averted. Then, it happened. The rip heard 'round the world. As we were about to begin the receiving line, one of the coordinators from the church accidentally stepped on my train as I was walking forward. I heard the most horrific rip, turned and saw that there was a significant tear in the back of my gown. EMERGENCY! My mom grabbed me, and said she had a satin needle and thread. She would fix it. Crisis averted. She fixed it.

Not out of the clear yet. I would FREAK if dream #2 came to reality. Fortunately, Dad and I both remembered how to do the chicken dance and pulled it off like it was a true surprise to even us.

More pictures of "The Big Gig" will be coming soon. Since we didn't have our own camera's handy, I am patiently waiting photos from friends. It will be some time before our photographer sends hers as she has STRICT instructions not to send them until she has zapped 30 pounds from my frame. Oh, and Erika - if you are reading this, my mom has requested to be photo-shopped. ;)

THE BIG GIG!!!!!

The day of the "Big Gig" proved to be like all others that week. After a brief nap in the middle of the night, everyone got into motion to "get 'er done". All the girls headed to the salon. There was hair to be done and makeup to be applied. Dad and JM ran errands between dry cleaners and dress makers. Then, they were off to the salon, too. Not for mani-pedi's (though we suggested), but for more important things, like dropping off my veil. While having a brief respite from the chaos that was Carter Barnes, I managed to slip into Nordstrom to buy a new bathing suit and cover up for our honeymoon. It is amazing how flexing the VISA makes just about everything better. Before I knew it, everyone was transformed and more beautiful than I could have imagined.

We had a little time before the ceremony, so Mom, Karen and I decided that we would check me into the Ritz Carlton Buckhead (where Tad and I spent the first night as husband and wife). We had the MOST AMAZING suite you could imagine. We then summoned the boys. Well, not Tad because I didn't want to see him until the church. Dad and JM came up, we rocked out to The Beatles. Danced. Laughed. Tried not to cry (on account of my false eye-lashes). Took pictures. Had a glass of champagne to celebrate. Played pool. Took more pictures and laughed a lot more.

Karen, myself and Mumsie

Mumsie, The Bride (the sash says it all but the tiara gives it away) and Dad.

Just like 1975. Only taller.

Mom and Dad used to force us into a Christmas picture like this every year as kids. I forced him into this by playing the bride card. My big brother rules.

Karen, JM and I.

Time to head to the church.

Exhaustion Leads to Excitement

Pre-Rehearsal champagne with Dad.

Wow. That was fast. And exhausting. Everyone warned me. I was certain I had it under control. I was proved wrong. Fortunately, I had LOTS of help the week before the wedding. Had it not been for my parents, Tad's mother and at the last minute, my brother and sister-in-law, we might not have had lots of little cool things like programs or favors for our guests. We stayed up LATE every night. I learned that I could function on about 4 hours of sleep. Not very well, but at least stay vertical. My mom operated on far less sleep each night. We had everything pulled together by Thursday night - mostly. By Friday, I was EXHAUSTED. Then, it happened. While pulling into the valet station at the Ritz Carlton downtown, I saw Travis Wood and Tom Nordgren checking in as well. Game on. Exhausted no more. The party was about to start. As I entered the hotel, my eyes quickly came to rest on my college roommate, Jen Marshall. Tad's sister, Lane and her family were there as well. WOOOOOHOOOO! I am not even sure I put my car in Park. No matter. It was time to GO! All plans for an afternoon nap were out the window. It truly is amazing what happens when the adrenaline kicks in. The rehearsal was a blast. After the churchin' part was over, we headed to Paschal's for a fine Southern meal of fried chicken and collard greens. My parents then treated us to more cocktails at the Ritz Carlton (thanks, Mumsie and Big John!!!). The "Big Gig" officially had begun.

With my God Parents, Su and Tad Hemp. Or Tad #1 and Tad #2 as they have self dubbed.

Janin and Tami Wellhausen

Janin with Mom and Dad. Yes, it is a spray tan.

Time to switch to water.

Janin and Valeri Yee! All the way from SAN JOSE!!!

The Petrick's as 5.